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Jean-Marie Lehn - Facts

Affiliation at the time of the award:Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France, Collège de France, Paris, France

Prize motivation: "for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity"

Field: organic chemistry

Prize share: 1/3

Work

Chemical reactions often occur through the influence of molecules that have cavities and pockets where other atoms and molecules can be attached to then join with other molecules. After Charles Pedersen discovered crown ethers, molecules that can capture certain metallic atoms, Jean-Marie Lehn found related molecules in 1969 that he called cryptands. They can capture certain types of molecules, making it possible to create chemical compounds through chemical reactions that have a significant impact on biological processes.